Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business 2010.” NYC

Last week, I attended an event in New York – Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business 2010.” As a  creative professional, I was intrigued by the event. But truth be told, nothing could have prepared me for what a great experience it would be.

Not only were the key icons of this event inspiring, so too is their work. In fact, it’s changing the world as we know it on a daily basis. Much of the overarching tone of the event was “changing the world for the better”, and two key speakers really stood out for me.

Ray Kurzweil, Inventor and Co-founder of Singularity University, was highly impressive, discussing new trends in cross-platform and new media and how these affect our identities, relationships and even our human experience.

The most inspiring speaker of the event was Zachary Lieberman, co-creator of OpenFrameworks, and a well-known professor at Parsons – the New School for Design.  Zach’s main thesis was “Bridging A Visual Divide.” He spoke about the new EyeWriter Initiative, an ongoing research project that develops a low-cost eye-tracking apparatus & custom software that allows paralyzed graffiti writers and artists to draw using only their eyes (see and learn more here).

Lieberman’s closing statement was one of the most unforgettable things I’ve heard to date:  “Artists are the R&D department for humanity.”

Simply put, there was no shortage of excellence at this event. And should you ever have the opportunity to attend ANY Fast Company seminar (especially this one), I recommend you sign up with a swiftness.

:: Kirk Henry, Creative Director

First off was Landmark Ventures’ Media Technology Summit at the Times Center in Midtown.  Lokion was a sponsor of the event, where interesting new technologies were showcased (DoubleVerify, Peanut Labs, and sMeet) to an energetic and multinational audience.  The late afternoon panel provided lots of food for thought — so much that there was hardly any time for questions.  The hot topic on everyone’s lips from the audience?  Mobile, mobile, mobile.  Thanks much to Landmark — enjoyed dinner with Phil Sharpe, SVP New Media & Strategy for Turner Broadcasting, and Wesley Chan, partner with Google Ventures, along with some of the Landmark team and other summit attendees.

Friday, May 14, was all about Gen Y at the Generation Next Forum, sponsored by L2 and held at the TimesCenter.  As usual, L2 did an excellent job of lining up interesting speakers with great perspectives.  Jared Cohen from the Secretary of State’s office illustrated how young people are utilizing technology (wowza about use of Bluetooth!) to communicate, organize, and effect political change, and Virginia congressional candidate Krystal Ball clearly demonstrated how Gen Y’s ideals and use of technology are helping her run a successful campaign for public office.

Tavi Gevinson was a huge hit as well.  This 15-year-old fashion commentator and blogger mini super-hero was fashion-forward and direct in her opinions of Gen Y — how they talk, how they listen, and what they want.  At the end of her presentation she got a gift from L2 founder Scott Galloway: A pair of well-beloved vintage blue Vuarnet sunglasses.

And last but not least, Cindy Gallop.  (Not much more can be said here without invoking a PG-13 rating or more.)  Check her out for yourself — she is an amazing, dynamic speaker with a mission.  We hope L2 continues to bring her back again and again.

Once our thoughts and info are assembled from the conference, we’ll update this post.  If you are burning to learn more about Lokion’s take on Gen Y and luxury brands (particularly in the ecommerce realm), give us a shout on our contact page and we will get back to you directly.

Lokion is a big supporter of Memphis’ application to Google for the ultra-high-speed broadband network that is planned to experimentally roll out in one or more trial locations across the country.  The effect that this technology investment could have on the Memphis community is potentially amazing — particularly for research and healthcare institutions, infrastructure, economic development and education.  We strongly believe Memphis is the perfect site for the network for a multitude of reasons (and not all of them based on a selfish bandwidth “need for speed”).

Meka Egwuekwe was the first Lokionite to spearhead our support.  He got us together and brainstormed how we could further support the the bid.  We concepted.  We deliberated.  We breakfasted at a local restaurant.  And we decided simple was best.

Google just needs to hook Memphis up.

So last night Lokion’s own Meka Egwuekwe spotted Spike Lee at a University of Memphis event, introduced himself, and asked Spike to add his voice to the community push to bring that Google fiber network here to Memphis. Spike graciously complied and the video is on our Hook Memphis Up site.

Great work, Meka — and special thanks to Spike Lee for his participation in such an important community drive.  If you would like to add your support, here are the relevant info/deets:

Tweet it: Hashtags #HookMemphisUp or #MemphisGoogle

Link to it:  hookmemphisup.com

Facebook it:  Become a fan of Bring Google Fiber Network To Memphis or Google Fiber For Memphis (or both)

Read about it:
Leaders say Google Fiber Network could transform Memphis (The Commercial Appeal)
Memphis sends its video message to Google in its push to land a broadband prize (The Commercial Appeal)

James led business development teams for top-tier Internet consulting and technical firms, providing clients with strategic guidance and support as a vendor partner. While working with Andersen, Razorfish, and Blast Radius, James built successful relationships with many leading companies and brands.

“We see this as a natural development of our existing eCommerce practice,” says Megan Jones, CEO for Lokion.  “James will increase our reach in the Eastern US, grow our alliances and provide direction for clients who need support for existing eCommerce efforts, or who need to re-platform/deploy online initiatives.”

“I am really excited to be at Lokion.  I have known Lokion’s leadership team for years and have watched them successfully grow Lokion offerings in the eCommerce realm.  With their particular knowledge of content and commerce and full-service support in strategy, design and technology, we are poised for even greater growth in 2010.”

About Lokion
Lokion creates digital and brand experiences that help clients generate awareness, loyalty, and growth. From crafting comprehensive interactive marketing campaigns to building custom applications, Lokion specializes in serving clients with results-oriented design, strategy, and technology. Clients include Viking Range, FedEx, Smith & Nephew, First Tennessee and more.   Lokion has been included in Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row.  For more information, see www.lokion.com.

Chloe O’Hearn, a Lokion project manager, and Shiloh Barnat, Director of User Experience, are both board members of Rock-n-Romp, a national group whose local chapters host live music shows for families.

“Everybody knows Memphis is the birthplace of rock and roll. And lots of people move or stay here because it’s a good place to raise kids,” Barnat said. “But you don’t stop rockin’ when you become a parent — it just gets harder to get out late. Rock-n-Romp is one of my favorite things about living in Memphis because it brings the city’s awesome music scene into the daylight hours. It’s like ParentPalooza.”

Lokion’s Director of Project Management, Patrick Miller, and his band The Stand Ins have a regular monthly gig at the Buccaneer Bar (mentioned in the Times piece). Like the juke joints spotlighted in the 2003 film “Last of the Mississippi Jukes,” if musicians want to play at the Bucc, all they have to do is ask – leading to a unique collaborative musical environment.

“Memphis musicians are all about each other. They share in recording, venues, even bands. We share our drummer with another band and our bass player is in two or three different outfits. We’ve played with several different Memphis groups at the Buccaneer, and they’re all incredibly diverse,” Miller said. “It’s a family. I haven’t met anyone yet on this scene I didn’t call a friend within weeks.”

That sense of community extends to the underground dance scene as well. Sean O’Daniels, a Lokion developer, is a popular underground dance DJ who regularly performs throughout the city.

“In the 20 years I have been a DJ in Memphis, I have been a part of a scene whose knowledge and passion rivals those of bigger cities,” he said. “In general, underground dance is not as highlighted in the US as much as it is overseas, yet it thrives here in Memphis. It’s amazing to me that the musical depth which makes this city famous can permeate and fuel the lesser-known genres.”

Miller agrees. He moved to Memphis from the San Francisco Bay Area and didn’t think his stay would be a long one – but his experiences within the local music community made him reconsider.

“I am proud and happy to be a part of this family, and it’s changed my whole perspective on Memphis. It’s one of the best things about living here, and I’m convinced it’s the thing we should talk about the loudest.”

On a recent business trip to Manhattan, we took in a half-day conference on Innovation sponsored by the Luxury Lab.

The concept was intriguing and The TimesCenter venue was quite nice (despite the lack of AT&T connectivity that precluded iPhone users from live-Twittering the event).  The finely dressed crowd quickly registered and settled in to listen to series of nine minute talks.  We enjoyed the forum and especially a few stand-out speakers:  Henry Blodget, CEO of The Business Insider; Scott Harrison, Founder, CharityWater.org; Cindy Gallop, CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld; and Chandler Burr, Perfume Critic for the New York Times.

Gallop was especially interesting — not only for her colorful language and snakeskin pants, but also for her observations that luxury brands have become diluted by democratization.  Her predictions?  Luxury brands of the future will be elitist and empathetic, and allow consumers to act immediately upon their desires. “That’s what e-commerce is about,” she commented. “Luxury brands are bad at that.”

Underscoring the importance of an ecommerce focus on customer interaction, keynote speaker and founder of Luxury Lab, Scott Galloway, noted in opening remarks, “Luxury brands who have an ecommerce presence scored 22 points higher on the Digital IQ Index.”  He also encouraged luxury brands to connect with consumers through social media, adding that it will be harder and more expensive in the future to attract fans and keep their attention.

Scott Harrison elicited audible sighs and probably even a tear or two during his talk about his work with CharityWater.org, a non-profit that helps provide clean water to the one in six people who need it — a billion worldwide.  It made for an arresting moment in the program when he deftly illustrated with heartrending video that something Americans take for granted is such a luxury in other countries.

Perfume critic Chandler Burr was a breezy and knowledgeable presenter who gave everyone in the audience an olfactory experience as he presented his talk about innovation in the perfume industry in three “acts” complete with scent strips to sniff.  His books on the perfume industry have already made it into our Amazon cart for holiday reading.

Finally, you’d have to be dead (or at least have non-functioning taste buds) not to have enjoyed the Vosges chocolate tasting table.  The organic peanut butter sea salt truffle — we could have used about 76,452 more of those. And really, who can resist the power of excellent chocolate in a beautiful box?

Our thanks to Scott Galloway and Luxury Lab for an enlightening (and delicious) seminar.

The combined efforts of Lokion and long-time client Viking Range were recognized by LuxuryLab in the recently-released 2009 Digital IQ Index.

Touted for its “unrivaled” interface and outstanding content, Viking’s industry-leading website was ranked at #1 in the Design & Home category. The report went on to call VikingRange.com a “triple threat” for its superb visuals, product search, and community features, and the site was assigned a Digital IQ ranking of 120 — “gifted” — on the LuxuryLab scale.

The Digital IQ Index is an annual digital brand audit as well as a qualitative and quantitative study that scored 109 luxury brands in 11 categories including fashion, beauty and skincare, watches, and automobiles. The study measured luxury brands on the effectiveness of their digital marketing and digital competence, taking into account such factors as search engine optimization, web design, and the strategic use of social media and eCommerce.

Lokion is currently in its 10th year as Viking’s digital agency, working with Viking’s internal teams and outside partners to design and produce high-end user experiences backed with solid technology. We are thrilled to have contributed to the well-regarded online presence and congratulate Viking on this recognition of its online efforts.

One of the four businesses developed that weekend, CheezyWeezy.com, is the brainchild of Lokion senior architect Meka Egwuekwe and was created with the help of Lokion developers Ashley Young and Ben Summers. And after months of fine-tuning and business development, the site makes its public beta debut today.

CheezyWeezy invites visitors to “take a smile break” by viewing pictures of cute babies and children and allows viewers to rate those photos using creative interactive web tools like the “Aww! Meter.”

Meka says the idea for the site came from a conversation he had with his wife Pamela a few years ago. “Whenever we took pictures of our two daughters, they would always say, with the biggest smiles, ‘Cheezy Weezy!’ We thought it would be cool to have a place where our family and friends could share that experience. And since Startup Weekend brings together a diverse group of intelligent people for the purpose of building projects like this, I thought it was an ideal place to develop the concept.”

Site registration on CheezyWeezy.com is free and users can create profiles allowing them to upload their own cute photos (internal safeguards are in place to prevent inappropriate content and site usage). Since the beta site launched in July, it’s been rapidly gaining momentum by building its user base and signing up advertisers. In addition, Meka and his team are actively utilizing social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, and more innovative site features (including an online store) are in the works.

The CheezyWeezy team will also be hitting the Memphis festival circuit to sign up users and even upload pictures (with parents’ permission, of course). Planned stops include the Germantown Festival (Sept. 12th), the Cooper-Young Festival (Sept. 19th), and the River Arts Festival (Oct. 24-25th).

“As today’s stresses ever increase, the need to relax and take a break from the regular work day to smile also increases,” Meka said. “We hope visitors get as much joy out of CheezyWeezy.com as we’ve had building it.”

Congrats to Meka and team for a job well done!